Guidelines

I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following :








Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Questions Asked--Awaiting Answers: Part III

Legitimate questions regarding policy implementation and policy compliance  deserve timely, complete responses from relevant staff.  Incomplete responses, ignored emails, and/or non-answers will only invite more scrutiny and more questions........

It's the holidays.  I get it.  Everyone is out on leave, away for the holidays.  People want to enjoy the holidays and I do, too.

But the wheels keep turning and things still have to happen.

Emails sent to highly-paid staff should be acknowledged at a minimum and answered promptly as a matter of practice and courtesy.

Unfortunately, I have had to ask lots of specific questions about the way an employee was treated over the last 7 months.  I have sat down in meetings with staff that have assured me that "Things were handled properly, we will get you the documents you have requested that will prove this!"

But this has not happened.

So 9 days ago I sent the below email to our new HR director with a copy to leadership staff and I have not had a response to this email from the HR director to whom it was addressed.  Nor have I


 received a response from the administrator.

This is both disrespectful and unacceptable.  Communication is critical to resolving difficult, thorny issues. Even during the holidays.

I still await the HR director's "information" she so stridently claimed to have during our face to face meeting in my office several weeks back that she claimed will "clear up" the entire Matt Selover issue for me.

But still no response to my email below??

No acknowledgment? 

Looks like there will be some uncomfortable conversation on our Friday afternoon conference call this week.  This is unfortunate but it could have been prevented with a simple response....................to this email from 9 days ago






5 comments:

Michael McCormack said...

Stay on top of it, Commissioner. This really needs airing out. Thanks for your transparency.

Tom said...

I have to believe something is amiss based upon your recounting the episode. If I recall, Ed Spainhower found it was more likely than not that Selover and been subjected to treatment inconsistent with policy. That apparently was reversed and your pursuit to unravel this Gordian knot is unfortunately necessary.

Anonymous said...

It seems it would behoove the ECBCC, Admin and Attn to require Edler to attend and take her place at the podium even if she has her counsel to speak for her. She does have the prerogative to report to DOH and have QA review. It she can't stand public inquiry she may not be a good fit for public service and/or management in a complex organization. If she can't take feedback nor direction from higher ups to be a team player and communicate, nor get irrational when she sees her name on the news or people discussing this on facebook with out filing an expensive lawsuit, it may be best for all if she is able to see this is not working out well for anybody.

Not all are cut out for public service.


Thank you for your attention and energy and courage to dive into this. This is leadership and the proper timing on your part.

Anonymous said...

Hoopaugh seems to hold the key to useful information. Timing is important.

Sure, by law a medical director can report to DOH, just like a policeman can arrest anyone he wants, or someone can file an unmerited lawsuit. Does that make it right?


It looks like Selover could go to a higher appeal, the medical director can turn anything in, any how, any way, all she wants, by law.

Ask yourself, was it warranted or could things have been handled better without the conflict, drama and ego? How many that were turned into DOH were unmerited? Couldn't things be handled in house? Was she not hired to help not rip public safety apart? Is claiming she was protecting her license valid? Compare using an ADA to force a sole source procurement.

The timing is suspect. I hope this item on the agenda is not quashed like the county attorney did with her subpoena.

Corruption needs to stop.
Public servants need to serve the public not their own self interest. Some are unable to see fault in themselves. That's what the Board is for.

Eyes on the Admin and the BOCC. You may have to delve into this via a toxic work place angle, not hostile, because some of the people are white, they aren't afforded the same federal protections as other classes, unfortunately.




Anonymous said...

Do you realize your appointed director, Edler, in the course of her job has sued a citizen for talking about these issues surrounding public safety in public.

You are paying Edler 200K and it has cost this citizen about 70K to defend herself so far, because of a this malicious lawsuit, and it is not over yet. The County Attorney and County Administrator to to wake up and see what is happening and be held accountable also.

Do they support violations of the first amendment and vexatious litigation toward the public by one of their staff? Do they see where this is going? Are they complicit?

Please bring that forward when you talk about the harassment policy on Tuesday. The medical director is the plaintiff. The rest of the BOCC needs to know about this in the sunshine. The case is # 2019 CA 001206

seventy thousand $$. Edler is trying to extract money from the citizen also above and beyond the legal fees.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/te86e8-legal-defense


A SLAPP suit may look like a civil lawsuit for defamation, nuisance, interference with contract, interference with economic advantage, or invasion of privacy, but its purpose is different. About this purpose, Judge J. Nicholas Colabella wrote in Gordon v. Marrone (N.Y . 1992), “Short of a gun to the head, a greater threat to First Amendment expression can scarcely be imagined.”